GOOGLE SEARCH

Amazon Add

Thursday, March 17, 2011

NEW DELHI - Fresh revelations of WikiLeaks' expose on US Embassy's leaked India cables indicating that the Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh was "isolated" within his own government over his "great belief" in pursuing talks with Pakistan, or that there was an "undeniable" pro-US tilt in the Union Cabinet's January 2006 reshuffle today generated political heat within and outside Parliament, with Opposition parties, including the Left and the BJP, demanding the government's explanation.

There was uproar in the Rajya Sabha as the Left MPs, supported by the BJP members, demanded that the government clarify its position on disclosures of cables of US Embassy in India to Washington, exposed, as part of its global expose, by the international whistleblower website, the Julian Assange-headed WikiLeaks.

Raising the matter this morning, the CPI-M member, Mr P Rajeeve, referred to media reports on WikiLeaks expose in which the then US Ambassador to India, Mr David Mulford, had described the January 2006 Cabinet reshuffle as having "undeniable pro-American tilt", especially highlighting the replacement of the petroleum and natural gas minister Mr Mani Shankar Aiyar, seen by the US as "contentious and outspoken Iran (Iran-Pakistan-India) pipeline advocate," by "pro-US" Mr Murli Deora.

Mr Rajeeve said a chain of US embassy cables reveal the pro-US position of the Indian government on several issues, referring to Mr Mulford's bid to describe the change in the petroleum portfolio as a "determination to ensure that US-India relations continue to move ahead rapidly".

As other Opposition members shouted slogans "shame on the government", Mr Rajeeve, backed by Left members like Mrs Brinda Karat and also BJP and Shiv Sena MPs, said the US Embassy cables felt the net effect of the then Cabinet reshuffle was "likely to be excellent for the US goals in India (and Iran)."

He said there was also a reference in the cables to the inclusion of Mr Saifuddin Soz, Mr Anand Sharma, Mr Ashwani Kumar and Mr Kapil Sibal "with strong pro-US credentials".

India was not ready to share the details of investigations into 26/11 Mumbai attack with Pakistan initially. But after continuous pressure (from the US), the Union home minister Mr P Chidambaram agreed to share the information, he said, quoting media reports on cables.

Opposition members again shouted slogans "shame on the government" after Mr Rajeeve quoted the cable about the "Kerala mafia in the Prime Minister's Office (PMO)".

The agitated Left members pressed for the government's statement on this entire issue. In the Lok Sabha, while participating in a debate, the senior BJP leader and ex-foreign minister, Mr Jaswant Singh also referred to the WikiLeaks' revelations on India cables indicating the US' views on India's approach towards Pakistan. He wondered whether the Congress-led UPA government's foreign policy was being allegedly framed in Washington. He also demanded a debate on the WikiLeaks' documents.

Another damning revelation was related to a cable sent by the current US Ambassador, Mr Timothy Roemer, to the US State Department in August 2009 immediately after his initial encounter with the then National Security Adviser (NSA) and current West Bengal governor, Mr M K Narayanan, in which he noted that Mr Narayanan readily conceded his differences with the PM over talks with Pakistan.

"After the Prime Minister spoke in speeches of India's shared destiny with Pakistan, he (Narayanan) told the PM you have a shared destiny, we don't," the US envoy quoted Mr Narayanan as recounting during their meeting. The Ambassador further noted that although Mr Narayanan's hard line on Pakistan was known, his readiness to distance himself from his boss in an initial courtesy call would suggest that Dr Singh "is more isolated than we thought within his own inner circle in his effort to 'trust but verify' and pursue talks with Pakistan particularly in the wake of the hammering his government took from opposition for the Sharm-al-Sheikh statement with (Pakistan) Prime Minister Gilani" following the 26 November 2008 Mumbai terror attacks.

Significantly, the Congress party had then also refrained from backing the PM for days on end over the Sharm-al-Sheikh joint statement which was felt to have de-linked Indo-Pak talks with the terror issue. Today, the Congress sought to stonewall all these questions, dismissing WikiLeaks expose as "unsubstantiated and merely sensational".

"There is no question of accepting their veracity and their authenticity, these are unsubstantiated subjective views of individuals; we would not react to such sensational titbits as doing so would diminish India's democracy, its spirit and its stability," said the Congress spokesman Mr Abhishek Singhvi.

On his part, Mr Aiyar said: "I was told explicitly that it was a temporary charge. I thought I will be there (petroleum ministry) for a week or two. It turned out to be 20 months. So it is not surprising that at the first opportunity when the reshuffle took place I was relieved of my temporary charge."

Asked whether there was any US influence on the then Cabinet reshuffle, Mr Aiyar told reporters, "How would I know. I was given temporary charge of oil ministry... Even after the reshuffle I was not thrown out of the government, I remained in the government."

Terming as "very serious" the WikiLeaks' revelations, the BJP leader Mr Venkaiah Naidu demanded that the government should clear the air.